Kardon:is english translated manga you buy at the store pretty caught up to japan? Or do I need to go dowload subbed manga chapters to stay ahead too lol?
The best option is to find a website that either links or hosts a cleaned up/subbed version of the weekly chapter. I personally use Bleach7.com because the group that runs it, Maximum7, does a superb job of timing and quality. Currently, the raw chapters are going to be included in Volume 38 of the Japanese trade paperback.
Meanwhile, if you want to pay for the Viz trade paperback, it is a great deal behind with it only being translated as far as Volume 27, the beginning of the Hueco Mundo arc.